Space partners: ESA and NASA
A CASCADE of
electrons streams
down earth's magnetic
field past the shuttle to
cause earth's auroras.A
detector (West Germany)
measures their numbers,
speeds, and directions.
In a corollary
experiment (Austria), a
sensor defines the
intensity and directionof
earth'smagnetic field in
the vicinity of the shuttle.
Like newspapers,
X rays emitted by
astrophysical events
from exploding
supernovae to pulsars
carry the stories of the
events, because the
processes that caused
them label the rays with
discretefrequencies. A
spectrometer (European
Space Agency) edits the
copy from such reporters
as colliding stars and
black holes to produce a
paper that astronomers
will read with interest.
Viewed from shuttle
altitude,the atmosphere
acts like a giant
television screen,
containingfaint optical
emissionsproduced by
high-velocity winds,
BELGIUM
SOLAR-CONSTANT
ERIC-
SENSOR
FRANCE
UNITED STATES
electricfields, and other
phenomena. After a low
light TV camera (United
States) recordsthese
images, earthbound
scientistscan tune in at
their leisure.
The sun's radiant
energy-long known as
the solar constant
pummels our atmosphere,
contributingto the
equations that govern
atmospheric circulation,
and hence earth's climate.
With recent discoveries
that the solar constant
actually varies a bit,
scientists ask, how much?
The question can only be
answeredfrom a
spacecraft,since the
atmospherefilters out
some of the sun's energy
before it reachesearth.A
radiancesensor
(Belgium) will help
determine the variability
of the solarconstant.
A sister experiment
(France) views a
narrowerslice of the
sun's energy output,
from ultraviolet to
infrared-spectralbands
that deposit energy at
various levels of the
atmosphere.
99i _d
Physiology
HIMSELF a satellite
of sorts in space, man
has exhibited curious
dysfunctions during
prolongedflight. An
experiencedformer test
pilot becomes nauseated.
His heartaltersin
rhythm. He loses red
blood cells. Why?
A TV camera of very
high resolutionmounted
on a crew member's head
(left) will record the
movement of his eyes
while he is strappedin a
metal frame, center, and
pushed aboutby another
crew member. Erratic
eye movements are a key
index to subtle changes
in the body's delicate
balance system.
At another time, he
will be asked to study the
location of common
shapes and, with eyes
closed, point to each.
A hemoglobin monitor
records changesin red
blood-cell production,
and a medical tape
recorder,through
electrodes shown in black,
monitors his heart,
brain,and eyes.
In another experiment
he picks up a pairof metal
balls and tries to judge
which is heavier. There
are 24 balls to choose
from, all the same size but
differing subtly in mass.
A slight electric shock
applied to the tibialnerve
behind the knee will
yield data about a little
known field of reflex
behaviorduring sustained
weightlessness.
Most of these
experimentswill also be
conducted before and after
the flight.
SOLAR-SPECTRUM
SENSOR
John W. Young
Commander
A former naval aviator and
experimental test pilot, Young,
53, commanded the shuttle
during its first orbitaltest flight
in 1981. The veteran of two
Gemini and two Apollo missions
spent more than 71 hours on
the moon's surface.
Brewster H. Shaw, Jr.
Pilot
As an Air Force fighter pilot,
Shaw, 38, won the coveted Top
Gun awardtwice and logged
644 combat hours flying F-IOOs
and F-4s in Vietnam. Before
becoming an astronautin 1978,
he was a test-pilot instructor
at Edwards Air Force Base.
Dr. Owen K. Garriott
Mission Specialist
Garriott,52, served as science
pilot on the second Skylab crew
in 1973. A specialistin
ionosphericphysics, he received
his doctoratefrom Stanford
University in 1960.
Dr. Robert A. R. Parker
Mission Specialist
A former associate professor
of astronomy at the University
of Wisconsin, Parker,46,
received his doctoratein that
subject from the California
Institute of Technology in 1962.
Dr. Byron K. Lichtenberg
Payload Specialist
A specialistin biomedical
engineering, Lichtenberg, 35,
has degrees from Brown
University and the
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology.
Dr.Ulf Merbold
Payload Specialist
Merbold, 42, a citizen
of West Germany,
graduatedfrom
Stuttgart University and
researchedlow
temperaturephysics and
crystal-lattice defects
at the Max Planck
Institute for Metals
Research.
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